What two books do you enjoy from the following list? (please see details)

Well I loved Dracula. It’s an old book, and an interesting take on what culture and society was like back then, or so I imagine. I got a kick out of all the cigar sessions the men kept having after dinner lol.
As for the vampire himself, it’s especially interesting that, while obviously, he appears in the book…a lot of him is fleshed out and given life (no pun intended) by the fear he instills in the main characters, as well as their determination to fight back. It’s obviously not like a modern vampire novel, but it’s really fun to read, and it definitely has a chill factor. Some pretty epic scenes in it, like the end climax, and when Dracula speaks of his ’‘ancestors’’ to Johnathan Harker when he goes to meet up Dracula at his castle. The Dracula character is really cool too.

The Stranger was good enough that I still think about it today even though I read it almost 20 years ago. I liked the picture of Dorian Gray OK.

What an odd list.

“And Then There Were None,” is a clever mystery story by Dame Agatha Christie (formerly known as “Ten Little Indians.”)

“Dracula” and “The Fellowship…” meh.

“Remains of the Day” is a very serious Mann Booker winner by Ishiguro and well-worth reading I liked this better than “Never Let Me Go.”

“A Room of One’s Own,” by Virginia Woolf, is more fun to have read rather than actually reading it, if you get my point. I like saying that I have read Woolf and Proust and Stenhdal; I didn’t much enjoy reading them.

“The Stranger” is worth reading in the original French. Camus writes in a clear and simple style that is easy to read if you’ve had a couple of years of HS French.

I am not a fan of Herman Hesse, but he does have many.

“A Picture of Dorian Gray” is also worth a read.

I loved “Saturday;” Ian MeEwan is an author you should familiarize yourself with.

Dorian Gray, and Siddhartha.

My favourite two from that list are Dorian Gray and Dracula. Although aside from Jekyll & Hyde and Fellowship of the Ring, I haven’t read any of the others.

“Siddhartha” and “And Then There Were None.”

The list represents a wide variety of writing styles. “Fellowship” is extremely descriptive—pages and pages dedicated to describing scenery, as opposed to “Siddhartha” which doesn’t go much into details, but describes experiences.

Dracula & Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close would be my choices from your list.

Extremely would be my number one choice for summer reading. The movie is quite different than the book, but I found both unique and worthy of my time.

I agree with @gailcalled, that this is an odd list for summer reading.

With the list you provided, I’m also going to suggest that you may like The Book Thief.

Of all these books I enjoyed the Fellowship of the Ring the most. I have promised myself I will re read it some day. The Remains of the Day is enjoyable in a more serious way and was made into a great film starring Anthony Hopkins. If you read the book I would recommend seeing the film as well.

Dorian Gray and Siddhartha.

To everyone saying this is an odd list of books, it looks like a school summer reading list to me. I’ve seen almost identical lists of books you’d never see together otherwise for the last 10 years when I worked at libraries.

My picks are Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Picture of Dorian Gray. I love English period piece dramas like these (as well as things like Sherlock Holmes and Wuthering Heights and anything by Charles Dickens) so that kind of shows you where my taste lies.

On the other side of that coin, I simply could not get into the Fellowship of the Ring (book or movie) and I couldn’t read the Harry Potter books for the same reason. Although I did like the HP movies, but mostly because of Alan Rickman’s Severus Snape character. The genre, itself, I don’t care for.

I think I would like Remains of the Day, haven’t read it, but did see the movie and liked it a lot.

I don’t think I’d want to read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, because the horror of 911 is still too close and real for me.

The others I have not read.

Siddhartha
Dracula-Assuming it is the Bram Stoker novel and not a comic book.

Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-I haven’t read this but after seeing the movie, the original black and white movie and seeing that it was much much more than a simple horror flick, I put it on my reading list. Haven’t gotten to it yet, but I think this is a good one.

The Picture of Dorian Gray-Great book. Entertaining but with a deeper message

Saturday-thought provoking contemporary psychodrama.I liked how McKewan gets into the head of his protagonist.It’s worthwhile, I enjoyed it, but it’s not light reading for the beach.

The Stranger-One of the most memorable books I’ve read.

Siddhartha-I remember feeling cheated with this book. Maybe I didn’t understand it? Maybe I expected too much?I liked it but felt disappointed by how it ended.

The rest, I haven’t read.

I’ve only read Ten Little Indians and The Fellowship of the Ring from that list.

The Stranger. Essential existentialist/nihilist literature along with Thus Spake Zarathustra and Moby Dick. Like Meursault, I feel an emotional disconnect from the world and its people. I feel nothing but content about it.

The Fellowship of the Ring is not bad so far. I’m not a fantasy fan other than Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire, but this novel is truly captivating. The writing is fairly acceptable and it’s a lot better than the movie imo, because of the amount of detail Tolkein puts in his writing.

Have to say that I completely (shock!) agree with @gailcalled‘s assessments. I laughed and nodded at “meh” for FOTR and Dracula.

I loved Siddhartha and I’m just now reading Extremely Loud… which kind of has my interest, but seems very similar to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and is rather suffering by comparison.

Fellowship of the Ring and Dracula. But that’s just me, and I’m a fantasy literature nut.

Hey thanks everyone! I’ve decided to read The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Stranger. :D

I was the right age to read “The Stranger” in high school. I felt very existential. It is a compelling descent into the bewilderingness of life. I also very much loved “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and all it said about the secret corruption of a man.

On the lighter side JRR Tolkien is always a good read, but how could you read just one? You would have to read the full Lord of the Rings trilogy. You would become addicted. Then, if you’ve already seen the movies—why not try something different and do these when you have the time?

Agatha Christie? I’m surprised it is on a must read list. Mysteries are fun and she’s usually a good read but . . . read ‘em and forget ‘em.

Are you a sophomore transitioning to junior in HS?

hot damn—I just read your answer above!!!! After my own heart. Enjoy.

BTW “The Stranger” besides being compelling for other reasons is a splendid example of the vagaries of the criminal justice system—French this time.

@NostalgicChills good choices! I heartily approve!!!

Of your list I’ve only read And Then There Were None and none of the others capture my attention. I’d have to see what Saturday is about, and maybe Breakfast with Buddha. But hey, I only read mysteries lately; nothing else is capturing my attention.

@anartist No I’m a senior in high school! :D (finally)

Here’s the opening of “L’Etranger” in French.

Famous and relatively easy to understand.

“Aujourd’hui, maman est morte. Ou peut-être hier, je ne sais pas. J’ai reçu un télégramme de l’asile :“Mère décédée. Enterrement demain. Sentiments distingués.” Cela ne veut rien dire. C’était peut-être hier.

@gailcalled Wow you’re right, I did understand all of that.

Voilå.

@NostalgicChills: If you have the energy to read the first chapter in French, you can mention this casually to both your English and French teachers (plus, more importantly, give yourself a pat on the back.)

@gailcalled
I got the French version; I’m so excited!

Brava.

Even if you read only the first chapter in French (it is a long book and gets more complicated later), pat yourself on the back.

I just reread “Madame Bovary” in French but had the English translation at hand when I wanted to cheat a little.

@gailcalled still a good read in any language.